


Child of the Forest: The Beginning

by DCJoKeRHS



Series: Child of the Forest [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (And By Fun I Mean Painful...), (I think I ruined Mabel Pines... Sorry-not-sorry ;w;), Bill Cipher Being Bill Cipher, Bottom Dipper Pines, Human Bill Cipher, I'm Dorito-Dip Trash, Mabel Pines Is Awesome, Magic Dipper Pines, Multi, Overprotective Mabel Pines, Please Don't Kill Me, Possessive Bill Cipher, Protective Bill Cipher, Tags Are Fun, The Canon World is a Guideline, Top Bill Cipher, Triangle Bill Cipher, Yandere Mabel Pines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-05 11:23:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12189063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DCJoKeRHS/pseuds/DCJoKeRHS
Summary: Dipper was born sans tongue.Mabel, as a result, got too Overprotective (per tags)This is merely the prologue 'fic, Once this is complete, I shall try and post this into a series with the Main part, ne? ;w;





	1. Arriving at Gravity Falls!

Dipper and Mabel got off the bus, Dipper nearly falling off the bus’ last step from the weight of his and Mabel’s bags, distracted by Mabel’s antics.

“Oh! Sorry Dipdop!” Mabel exclaims, catching him quickly, before taking one of their bags.

“A-an!” Dipper replies, as the bus drives off.

Mabel smiles, ruffling his hair.

Despite being twins, they were opposites, in more ways than one.

She was extroverted, loud and unique in her actions, even if they weren’t really that “normal”.

However, Dipper was introverted and tended to be practically silent – especially as he was born without a tongue and held the Big Dipper on his forehead.

However, they were happy! No one really picked on them, they were eachother’s best friend as well as twin and now they were here, at Gravity Falls, together!… Even if half the people who  _ did _ try picking on Dipper at the start of each year  _ disappeared _ for some strange reason.

“Hmmm…” Dipper tapped his foot, before pointing at the road, then tapping his wrist.

“Yeah, Great Uncle Stan should be here… Ah well! We can walk!” Mabel beams.

Dipper nods, before realising Mabel has his bag.

“Ey!” he complains, Mabel smirking.

“It’s the heaviest!” she replies, before charging on ahead, “Alpha twin! Alpha twin!”

Dipper’s eyes widen, as he stumbles after her, into the woods, pausing to look round in wonder and joy, before running after Mabel…

 

After some talking with the people in the small town, Mabel and Dipper are given a lift by the Sheriff and his Deputy.

“Not much a talker, hey, Dipper?” Blubs remarks at Dipper remaining quiet.

“He doesn’t have a tongue, so he can’t talk!” Mabel replies, Dipper looking over.

“Awe, Sheriff, that was a bit mean! Here! Want a lollipop?” Durland smiles, before holding out said sweet to Dipper, who brightens, nodding his thanks as he takes the sweet, signing his thanks with his hands.

“Hehe, my apologies, but you, Durland, are a true diamond in the rough!” Blubs smiles, as they soon reach their destination.

The twins thank the officers, before running to the door.

“Kids! I thought you weren’t here until Monday!” Stan remarks, opening the door.

“It  _ is _ Monday!” Mabel replies, as Dipper waves to the leaving officers, before moving to Mabel’s side as he smiles and waves.

“Huh, well, come on in; you’re rooming in the attic,” Stan states, stepping aside…

 

_ An eye opens as there is movement in the old room, a pair of twins following good ol’ Fez inside. _

_ The first one is loud and a type of crazy He Himself isn’t really keen on, but the other kid… He’d almost slipped under His gaze. _

“ _ I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” _

“ _ Thanks Grunkle Stan!” _

“ _ A-an!” _

_ Oh? He’s semi-mute? _

_ The crazy twin moves over to the other. _

“ _ Hey! Look at my awesome splinters!” _

“ _ Oa-oo,” the other points at the goat on their bed, as the elder twin laughs, before cheerily moving the goat to their own bed, allowing it to chew on her jumper. _

_ The younger twin sighs, before the girl lifts her hair to kiss the boy’s forehead, revealing a certain constellation that has Him staying a while longer. _

“ _ It’s fine, Dipper, besides, we just need to settle in, right?” _

“ _ Mm, Mabew,” the other smiles softly,  _ innocently _ as he gently moves the hand away to hide his mark… _


	2. Gnomes

Working in the shop isn’t half bad! Even if Mabel has to translate Dipper’s sign-language for Soos and Wendy and there was even that one time with the old couple who thought Dipper was adorable and kept pulling his cheeks and ruffling his hair…

(Stan attempted making him part of the attraction after, which was a blend of embarrassing and fun for Dipper; he could at least  _ growl _ at people… Even if the tourists found  _ that _ cute…)

Then, Dipper got sent out on signs-duty.

He didn’t mind, because it involved entering the forest – his favourite place.

…Then he found the Journal, as well as hearing a soft rustling…

Which revealed the goat.

“Ey t’ere!” he grinned, the goat looking at him, before returning to the grass.

“Hi there!”

Dipper jumped, before looking up to find a floating triangle.

‘Who...’ Dipper freezes, clutching the book tighter.

“The name’s Bill! Bill Cipher! And you’re Dipper Pines, right?”

‘How does he know that?’ Dipper blinks in surprise.

“I can see  _ everything _ , kid! Here, let me change into something a bit more comfy for you!”

There was a flash, before a gold-haired guy emerged in the demon’s place. He wore brown trousers with gold bricks decorating the sides, black brogues, a black jumper over an ivory shirt and a yellow, sleeveless suit-jacket with more of the gold-bricks design around the edges. Above his head floated a black top hat with a gold ribbon as he clutched a black cane with a gold band sitting neatly below the black handle.

The most iconic thing, however, was the cyan eye gleeming at Dipper, its other part hidden by both a black eyepatch and Bill’s fringe – the only part not swept back neatly in a lax river of gold.

“Woah,” Dipper blinked, as Bill grinned, showing pointed teeth between cream-pink lips.

“Like it?”

Dipper shrugs, before nodding.

‘Bill looks pretty cool…’

“Why, thank you!” Bill doffs his hat, Dipper finally registering what Bill had been implying the whole time.

‘You can read my thoughts?!’ Dipper mentally squeaks, signing out of habit.

“Of course! I  _ am _ All-Seeing!” Bill laughs, before sighing as his eyes land on the book.

“I suggest, if you’re willing to keep that, not to show it to your Grunkle, else he’ll use it to end the world in a big explosion of power.”

Dipper blinks, tilting his head.

‘Why?’

“His twin’s trapped on the other side of the rift, Fez’s got it into his head that reopening the rift means he can save old Sixer…” Bill gets slightly distracted with the way the magic of the forest is curling around Dipper’s feet, as if it was waiting for Dipper to do something.

Dipper looks twice as puzzled, Bill smirking.

“Enough of that, I can already sense the intent your sister’s holding at you not yet returning, I shall take you to the forest edge by a faster route, in return you come and see me again, ok~?”

He extends a hand, blue flames flickering.

The only way to tell…

Dipper nods, taking the hand, Bill resisting a hiss as he feels the magic lying under the child’s skin, his own weaving the deal between them…

 

Mabel is surprised at the events Dipper tells her, before scrunching her face up.

“Are you sure you’ll be OK? I mean, he  _ is _ a demon… And it’s  _ me _ saying this!” she asks.

Dipper smiles softly, as hope glimmers in his eyes, shaking his head slowly, before signing;

‘I’ll be fine, he didn’t feel  _ that  _ dangerous…’

Mabel sighs in relief; Dipper  _ was _ good at telling who was good or not, especially towards  _ them _ .

“Fine… Just… Tell me if you ever need help, OK, Dippin’ Dots?”

Dipper smiles, nodding, before returning his focus to the journal as Mabel continued with her latest jumper, glancing over at Dippers small noises of interest and amusement to quietened hums of intrigue and worry; hearing his voice was a rare thing, but it always came out so loving and soft when it did…

 

The next few days, Dipper visited Bill in the forest…

...Then Mabel got a boyfriend, who sent Dipper’s worrying off the radar, having him going straight to Bill.

“Biww?!” Diper calls, running into the forest.

Bill is there in moments.

“Woah, woah, woah, kid! What’s wrong?!” he asks, placing black-gloved hands on the worrying tween’s shoulders.

Dipper shows Bill his memories of how Mabel had found a boyfriend, about Dipper finding the guy looked like a vampire, but then had dropped and reattached his hand…

‘And I’m scared and don’t know what to do! She won’t even  _ listen _ to me anymore! It’s always  _ him _ !’

The fact Bill has a “What on earth” face does nothing to help.

“That’s  _ dwarves _ , trying to make Mabel their  _ queen _ …”

Dipper  _ runs _ …

On his way, Dipper passes the Mystery Cart and Soos, obtaining a bat and the Cart as he uses it to speed up finding Mabel…

...Who’s tied up with a group of Gnomes around her.

Dipper is quick to use the shovel left in the cart to get the gnome between him and Mabel out the way, before both run for the Cart, the gnomes following behind.

The fact they then become a huge  _ monster _ from the gnome’s teamwork…!

The Cart crashes into the shack, as the two are thrown from it, landing painfully, though Mabel was quick to grab the axe leaning on the shed, turning to protect Dipper from the attacking gnomes.

“Marry me or I’ll do something  _ reeaaally  _ crazy!” the leading Gnome roars.

“Nah ah a~ah!” a cheery voice hums, as Mabel and Dipper turn to see Bill, Mabel raising the axe in a threatening pose, “Might wanna put that down, Shooting Star, especially since my cute Star’s behind you~”

She turns to glance at Dipper, who’s pouting at ill through an annoyed blush, Bill laughing a moment later.

“Say that next time you pout at a mirror, Dipper!” Bill grins, mockingly doing finger-guns, before turning to the gnomes, leaning on his cane, “As for you, Jeff, the Pines family are under  _ my _ protection! Run back to your little hovel or  _ you’re _ the one getting something crazy.”

The gnomes start towards Bill, before there’s a flash of blue, several of the gnomes suddenly finding themselves vomiting rainbows as others are racing for the forest, trying to escape.

Bill chuckles as Mabel allows Dipper to have her lower the axe.

“Biww!” he smiles, Mabel looking between the two.

“I see this is the sister you keep telling me about. Haha, almost as cute as you, my little Pine Tree.”

Dipper grins as Bill is suddenly caught off-guard.

“Oh my god you in a dress would look adorable...” he mutters, loud enough for both twins to hear.

Dipper facepalms as Mabel gives him her “what the heck?” face.

Bill shrugs.

“Dipper thought he’d be sassy about me calling him cute… Let’s just say it backfired.”

“Meam!” Dipper states, signing ‘I’m not ever going to wear a dress!’ with the statement.

Mabel smiles, relaxing.

“So, this is Bill?”

‘Yup’

Mabel hums, a contemplative pout becoming a smirk.

“You caught a hot one!” she finally says, before hugging Dipper and heading inside.

Dipper watches her go with a warm smile.

“Now, how about telling me more about what you like about the journal?”

‘It said I shouldn’t trust people, which is kinda stupid seeing as the person who wrote the journal is a person; it basically translates to “don’t trust anyone  _ but me _ !’ Dipper smiles…


	3. Gideon's over his head (and hair~)

After a fishy caper while Dipper and Mabel tried winning $1000, the children have to deal with living waxworks.

Only then, as Dipper was worrying over if the officers were OK or not with coffee in their eyes, did they find out they were alive, as Dipper found the final clue and worked it out.

Unfortunately for the waxworks, Waxwork Sherlock decided to call Dipper “a cute mute attempting more than you are able” while Bill was in earshot; cyan flames had suddenly shot through the window, melting the villain to pieces.

“B-Biww!” Dipper had squeaked, surprised, as he’d floated into the room via the fire-made entrance.

“Who else wants to mock my favourite human?” he’d growled, the rest of the waxworks roaring in revenge and charging forward…

Only to go up in more flames.

“Hmm… How stupid they are… Well, they are waxworks, how’s my favourite set of twins getting along?!” Bill spun round to grin wildly at the pair.

The twins shared a look, grins forming, before jumping on Bill in hugs of their own.

“Wh- hey!”

Laughter had rung out, before Stan had called down from upstairs and Bill had disappeared in a poof of flames, which, oddly enough, didn’t burn either Mabel _or_ Dipper…

 

About two days later, Mabel and Dipper decided to go and watch the shack’s rivals, of whom Gideon, the show’s star, had set his eye on Mabel.

Yet, it wasn’t until the second playdate, when Dipper felt anxious about Mabel, that Bill took him to spy on them, floating above with two sets of Bill’s magic binoculars.

Mabel had been cheery at first, but then, while watching the sunset, the mood relaxing, Gideon confessed and asked Mabel out.

Dipper would have fallen off of Bill’s lap were it not for Bill’s left arm tightening on his waist, pressing him back firmly into Bill’s chest.

‘Saynosaynosayno’ Dipper mentally repeats, waiting for Mabel’s answer as she squirms where she sits.

“O-of course!” Mabel smiles, straining out her reply.

Dipper facepalms as Bill chuckles.

Dipper looks up at him.

“What? Pain is funny! Anyway, we best be getting back; don’t want her to know we were spying on her from above, or she’d chop myhead off!… If she could find the right type of blessed axe, that is…”

Dipper rolls his eyes, as they disappear, the only thing marking their time there being the falling binoculars, which land softly a magpie’s nest…

 

‘Are you OK?’ Dipper signs, sitting by his sister.

“I’m fine…” she half-smiles, “Just tired.”

‘We can talk about it?’

“I’d rather not…”

Dipper nods, before pulling her into a hug, patting ‘sincere sibling hug!’ gently on her back in morse code, successfully gaining a return embrace…

 

Dipper looks up as Mabel storms into the shop, Grunkle Stan on her tail.

“Mabel! What the heck are you doing?! Gideon’s our _rival_!”

“ _Look,_ _ **you**_ _,_ ” Mabel spins round, hissing, making the entire room, thankfully holding just Wendy, Soos, Dipper and Robbie, who’d come to visit, falling silent, “ _I choose_ what the hell I do, not _you_ , not my parents or Dipper, _just me_ , so but the hell out or I’ll _show_ you _exactly_ how mad I can _actually_ be!”

D ipper freezes, as Mabel turns, before wincing, moving to pull him into a small hug, patting his back, before glaring at Stan.

“Mabel, my darling! Time for our date!”

Whelp. Speak of the devil, and he shalt appear.

Mabel looks at Dipper once more, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Dipper looks at Stan as his gaze, worry thinly veiled behind the anger, in his eyes.

Dipper goes to find Bill…

 

In the end,  Bill and Dipper take action.

Whilst Bill distracts Mabel, Dipper arrives, finding Gideon.

Fiddling with his notebook, the main way he communicated with Stan and the others, Dipper walks up to Gideon.

He waits until Gideon notices him as he scribbles his first note.

“Oh? And who might you be?”

Dipper pauses, before looking up at Gideon in curiousity, quickly switching the the ready-made keyring of memo-cards in his pocket.

‘I’m Dipper’, he shows, before flipping to the next one, ‘Mabel’s twin’.

Gideon nods, looking puzzled.

“Is anything wrong? Why can’t you just talk?”

Another pair of memo-cards.

‘Yes’ and ‘I was born without a tongue.’

Gideon frowns, before Dipper switches back to his notebook.

‘Mabel doesn’t want to date you, it’s stressing her out because she doesn’t want to outright say no, since it appears rude, yet can’t find another way to do so.’

Another memo-card, this one with a tacked-on note, courtesy of a sparkly pen.

‘Mabel’s older than me by five minutes, she thinks of me as her little brother.’

Gideon frowns, puzzled, as Dipper bites his lower lip, terrified of Gideon’s answer.

“I see… Well, Dipper…” Gideon moves, eyes and grin filling with veiled loathing that roots Dipper to the spot, “How about you run along now, you’re pretty brave, telling me what you have, and I’m sorry if I’ve been causing trouble for our dear Mabel.” 

Dipper nods, scooping up the cards and notebook, before running from the restaurant…

 

“Dipper! Are you OK?” Dipper is hardly in sight of Bill and Mabel when she’s already checking him over, “You didn’t have to handle my problem for me, I would have done it at some point...”

Dipper tilts his head.

“You do quite a lot more for him, though, Mabel, we wanted to help you this time; you were a bit too close to insane for my comfort,” Bill says, walking over to join the twins, pulling them both into a hug – they weren’t half that bad, after all.

Mabel sighs, before smiling softly at the other two.

“Fine… Thank you…”

 

Then Dipper got tricked via a phone call from Durland about stargazing.

Thankfully, Bill and Mabel arrive to save him… 

“DIE!” Gideon cackles as the scissors close in on Dipper’s neck, “Then _no one_ will get in the way of what’s _mine_!”

“Oi! Gideon!”

Everything stops, as the scissors fall away, Gideon turning to find Mabel and Bill at the door, Bill swinging his cane with a bloodthirsty grin as Mabel has a cricket bat coated in sequins and stick-on-gems in her hand, leaning on her shoulder.

“Leave my brother the _hell_ alone!” she growls.

“O-Oh? W-we were just having a nice chat, right, Dipper?”

Dipper’s reply is a yelp as he’s released from Gideon’s magic, falling into Bill’s arms  as the demon seemingly leaps over in one step to catch him.

‘Can you put me down?’ Dipper asks, Bill pouting, but obliging nonetheless, as Dipper sends him a plan via telepathy.

Bill smirks, before the pair dart at Gideon, Bill grabbing Gideon as Dipper tears off the charm giving Gideon his power, throwing it on the ground as Mabel smirks, before swinging the bat as Gideon screams….

Turquoise light flies everywhere with shards of glass-like stone as the magical gem is smashed in one hit of the sparkling bat, Mabel straightening as she lets out a breath, eyes fixing on Gideon.

“Bill, take Dipper back to the shack, I’ll return in a bit,” she says, voice stern with strength as Gideon cowers.

Bill blinks, nodding as he hefts Dipper up over his shoulder, Dipper struggling to try and stay with Mabel.

A click of his fingers stops that, Dipper falling asleep as Bill re-adjusts his grip so Dipper’s now leaning into his chest in a bridal lift.

“Mabel…” he cautionly stays, pausing as he leaves, now standing beside her.

“Out,” she growls.

“I know you’re used to that form of persuasion, but if disappearances and such start happening here, things will get twice as suspicious. Dipper loves you too dearly for that.”

Mabel glances at him, before relaxing and kickng the scissors by her foot away from herself, before moving to lean on the blunt of the bat.

“Fine…” she says, Bill nodding, before grinning, allowing his teeth to slide back into sharp points as his eye glows.

“I wouldn’t mind usually, or I would turn a blind eye, but I will know if you do that, alright?” he smirks, “Besides, if he tries again, I won’t hold back, either…”

He leaves, teleporting as soon as he is out of sight of the doors.

Mabel refocuses on Gideon as the fat pig tries sneaking away, eyes blazing with cold fury…

 

“Done?” Bill asks as Mabel walks into the shack, propping the bat coated in bits of blue collectibles by the door.

“Yeah… Thanks, getting arrested is sort of a priority…”

“Any time, Shooting star!”

She raises an eyebrow at him, before snorting, as she heads upstairs.

“Don’t let Stan catch you!” she smiles, this time, genuinely…


	4. Peaceful Time...?

The next day, Wendy skipped work with her friends, though Dipper had taken one look at the van of people and said Mabel could go if she wanted…

...She came back smiling like an idiot and twitching slightly as she was pulling along a bag of something behind her, Bill (thankfully) noticing before Stan, being able to help her get back into the shack and calmed down before she convinced anyone she was a homicidal maniac.

“What happened?” he hissed, peering over at where Dipper slept, hair swept around his face as it was filled with a tranquil kind of peace… 

…Cute.

He turns back expectantly.

“There was a ghost couple! I did the Lamby-Lamby dance Dipper and I used to do while Mum and Dad were out when we were little, then they let us all go and let me have extra smile dip! They were really nice!” Mabel grins, indicating the bags.

Bill freezes.

“Hide that under your bed,” he advises, pointing at the bags with a frown, before poofing away in a soft layer of cyan flame…

 

Three days and a day of fresh food and Stan finding out the dark side of Lazy Susan later, Stan figures out about throwing a party for money a week from then; entry would be twenty bucks, leaving would be thirty….

…He only says about the thirty-bucks-departure during the party, while Bill and Dipper were hiding amongst the crowd, Bill happily distracting Dipper from everything else in the room, the small brunet lost for words physically while trying to stop Bill seeing _all_ of his thoughts…

(Though by now he was pretty sure he had a crush on Bill and Mabel doesn’t really help.)

However, things ramped up when Mabel challenged the town’s Ice Princess to a game of karaoke, but Dipper,  Bill , Grenda and Candy – her two new besties – were there to cheer her on.

“Now! All those for Pacifica, clap!”

There was only some.

“Now! All those for Mabel!”

Pacifica crosses her arms, but Bill’s aura suddenly floods the room.

“Woah! A tie! Dudes, that’s great! It appears, however, there can only be one! And so, you two, pick someone!”

Pacifica smirks as Mabel quickly says “ Dipper Pines ! !”

Eyes turn to Pacifica, as she smirks.

“Candy Chiu.”

Hush falls as Mabel’s eyes narrow, Bill’s grin broadening.

“May the representatives please come to the stage!”

The  chosen  pair glance at eachother  worriedly , as Mabel moves to call Pacifica out.

“We have two songs here, you will each take one, this will be your proxy’s song.”

Mabel blinks, before face-palming, Pacifica  smirking as she moves to glare at Candy , who  swallows as Dipper bites his lip …

Candy got Bulletproof by La Roux… 

Dipper got Cannonball by Little Mix.

“OH COME ON!” Mabel yells, as Bill chuckles.

Candy is first,  singing pretty well.

Dipper takes the mic, glancing round, before taking a breath.

Even though he didn’t have his tongue, he’d grown up without it, this song was also his; he’d grown up with it, alongside the 80s and 90s music.

Pacifica’s face is immediately filled with glee, as Bill blinks, surprised, as Dipper lets the song sweep with him.

There Is a stupendous silence, before clapping slowly fills the room, Dipper blushing as Bill lifts Dipper onto his shoulder, whooping, until Mabel bowls them both down in a hug.

“Whelp, dudes! From that reaction, we have a winner! Te Pines twins! Dipper and Mabel!”

Pacifica screeches loudly in anger, shooting a murderous look at Candy, before storming off…

 

Time continues, as Pacifica tries publicly humiliating Mabel, before Bill shoves the official paper about who was the real town’s founder in her face as soon as she was offstage. Mabel then goes on to win Waddles at a fair.

But…

Then Robbie buts in when Dipper and Wendy are actually spending time together, before challenging Dipper after when Wendy stands up for Dipper, annoyed. As a result, Dipper accidentally sets Rumble McSkirmish loose, the 8-bit game-piece nearly beating up Robbie, hadn’t Dipper quickly stopped him, getting socked into a tree as a result.

Rumble McSkirmish cont i nues to advance as Dipper tries to get away,  as he blocks with an arm, heart racing as it is hard enough to smash open the top layer of his skin and spin him onto his front.

Suddenly Bill’s there as Mabel’s leaping down from the swaying tower, using her weight and speed to break a branch off a tree to attack McSkirmish, slamming the “Start” button that appears in front of her.

The two attacking McSkirmish distracts them from Dipper as he’s looking at his arm in shock, horror and wonder, adrenaline working as a natural painkiller as green vines seem to be weaving into his skin, settling below the surface as the adrenaline fades…

It  _ hurts _ , and Dipper falls onto his side as he chokes in pain, eyes fixed on the  vines that seem to merge with his veins , finally shaping a pine tree on the inside of his wrist, branches intricate as the roots wrapped around his arm, fading in and out of sight…

“Dipper?”

Dipper looks up to see Bill and Mabel turning to him, worry on their faces, as Stan is quickly reaching the bottom of the ladder, cured of his fear of heights…

Before seeing the trio, face changing swiftly from joy to shock...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I rush (not in a skipping sense, but the... Other type) then please tell me - it's kinda a bad habit I need to stop... ;D


	5. New Information

Dipper comes round on his bed, Mabel sitting by him as he hears arguing downstairs.

“Mabew?”

Someone catches into him, his sense of smell recognising sugar and pig and mabel-juice.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t want McSkirmish to hurt you and Bill was also there but McSkirmish only had so much hit off his healthbar and we thought you in pain was from the punches so when we turned round-” her words turn to mumbles as Dipper covers her mouth, a frown creasing the corners of his lips.

Mabel falls silent, before Dipper points towards the floor.

“Stan is holding Bill responsible for that magical tattoo.”

Dipper blinks, before getting up and heading to the door, Mabel following behind. The pair are silent as they move through the house to the kitchen.

“I may commonly be the bad guy, but this time, I’m not; Pine Tree and Shooting Star are now my top priority, you can’t just throw what I’d tried to have with Ford in my face like that!” Bill growls.

“I still don’t trust you.”

“Fine.”

“Who’s Ford?” Mabel asks.

Both men spin to see them, Bill letting out a breath.

“Wow, you successfully gave me a fright,” he smirks.

Dipper blinks, before turning to Mabel.

‘Grunkle Stan’s twin,’ he signs.

Mabel frowns.

“Stan’s twin?” she asks, surprised.

“How-!? Bill…” Stan turns to look accusingly at the humanoid demon.

Bill glances at Dipper, who hesitates, before shaking his head.

“I mistook Dipper for Ford for a moment; he has similarly coloured magic, though Dipper’s is actually quite a bit stronger and the forest was watching him,” Bill says, “I couldn’t exactly pass him off as you since I haven’t properly _met_ you before, he _had_.”

Stan frowns, before sitting at the table.

“Family - and demon - meeting!” he frowns…

 

Things are back to normal with ease…

Then Stan and Mabel find out how Dipper is a millimetre shorter than Mabel.

Dipper is practically chased out the house with their taunting, running into the forest…

 

Hesitating at a fork, Dipper glances between the two paths; both feel equally important, but each one…

“ _Power lies left, truth lies right…_ ”

Dipper looks round, before looking back at the paths.

The one on the left led to a lake, however, the other led up towards a cave…

Dipper takes a breath, before heading to the right, feeling wary as he reaches the cave, pausing at the sight of the bear that looked as though it had merged with the rest of its packs to create some sort of multi-limbed and multi-headed bear. It had been lying on it's belly, but rolls over slightly to look at Dipper.

“Who?” Dipper asks.

“Oh? I am the Multi-Bear, who are you?”

Dipper pulls out his memo-cards.

‘I’m Dipper’ and 'Dipper Pines' are shown.

The bear pats the space by him, Dipper moving to sit as he recognises the movement.

The bear surprises him when they start moving their hands in a familiar way.

‘You cannot talk well?’ they ask.

Dipper already has the next card out.

‘I was born without a tongue.’

The central head nods, before looking puzzled.

"What is that on your arm?"

Dipper remembers the mark, and shows the Multi-bear...

It sits up properly.

"Do you have Ursa Major for a birthmark, by any chance?" it finally asks.

Dipper's puzzled, before nodding, raising his fringe to show his forehead, the multi-bear humming in thought.

"You are a Child of this Forest, though you haven't gained your full potential just yet. Unfortunately, now you have the mark, you can never leave Gravity Falls... Unfortunately, this is the only thing I know..."

Dipper nods slowly.

'What happens if I try to leave?'

"There is a barrier; it will either bounce you back or teleport you back."

Dipper frowns, nodding, as the bear smiles gently.

"So, what would you think if I said I have a few BABBA records?"

Dipper's eyes widen, a smile lighting up his face as he nods...

 

(The taunting stops after Summerween, when Dipper had been the one to encourage the most candy out of the adults with how "small and innocent he looks!" while dressed up with Mabel as peanut and strawberry jelly, cardboard-headpiece just messing up his hair even more than before as Bill decided to just watch as his triangular self...)


	6. A "Peaceful" time

Some time after Summerween, Stan left and Mabel became the Boss: It was a disaster for the first half of the day, until Mabel lost it at a creature terrifying and driving two customers crazy. Bill ended up replacing Stan as Mr Mystery for the rest of the day, as Dipper returned to being the wolf-boy and Wendy and Soos got their former arrangements back... After dealing with the police...

But, Bill actually got them even more money! While Stan also won, then lost, everything in a gameshow...

 

Then there was a wormhole; Bill taunted Stan for a week after when he realised what that meant about the tickets...

...Until Dipper gave Mermando reverse CPR, then Mermando took Mabel's first kiss. (Bill may or may not have pinned Dipper down and kissed him senseless in a display of "affectionate ownership" after. Mabel, in turn, may or may not have gotten "blackmail pictures" and turned red as she plotted to show Grenda and Candy...)

 

Soos then finds a spare room, Bill glancing round.

"Hey, I suggest you move that carpet; it has bodyswapping capabilities," he smirks, Dipper nodding as he quickly starts rolling up the carpet. 

"Bagsy!" Mabel grins, as Dipper nods, hefting the carpet up, Soos quickly taking it out to the bin...

But then, Dipper can't sleep - His room is too empty.

The house is too quiet for his liking even if Gompers had settled in where Mabel used to be, fast asleep.

Picking up his blanket, feet bare against the boards, Dipper moves across the room, not noticing how the soles of his feet were now too thick for the splinters to affect him.

Padding downstairs, Dipper pauses as he spies the front door is slightly ajar, the smells of the outside world calling to him.

Blinking, Dipper shuffles, before seeing a shadow that seems to fly between the trees, as he remembers his current aim.

Sneaking into Mabel's room, he gently pushes her slightly farther across the bed, though he doesn't expect her to then pull him in, the second blanket forgotten as it falls lithely to the floor.

"Couldn't sleep?" Mabel whispers.

Dipper turns, snuggling slightly closer in reply, even ignoring the fact Waddles was between them - even if he smelt of the bath and earthy enough to ease any left over tension in Dipper.

He draws a heart in the palm of Mabel's hand, Mabel returning in kind, the little ritual bringing smiles both as they finally fall asleep...

(Soos gets the room the very next day.)

 

Some time after, Robbie hypnotises Wendy with a tape as Mabel rescues Sev'ral Timez, her favourite boy band, which keeps the twins separate for most of the day as Dipper wants to protect his elder-sister-figure (and show he doesn't approve of Bill's decisions in terms of deal-making...)...

When Robbie finally goes, Dipper can see the pain she has, and thinks of things he could try and do.

Biting his lip, he gingerly finds a certain pair of memo cards, glancing at Bill.

'I'm sorry', 'It's OK to cry, if you want.'

Wendy nods, taking a breath as she and Dipper sit, Bill staying where he was.

"I both hate you right now for poking your nose in..."

Dipper nods, looking at his shoes, guilt wriggling in his stomach.

"...But am kinda thankful; at least one of my boys is decent enough to say stuff to my face."

Dipper blinks, looking up, as Wendy gives a wonky grin, which dissolves in seconds as she buries her face in her hands, sobbing.

Dipper frowns, before gently moving to snuggle into her side, reminding her that he was there for her.

(Though she was a bit heavy when she decided to yank him into her arms for a hug, most of her weight bearing down on him... A glare at Bill, however, ensures he doesn't disturb her...)

 

The next result of the tattoo then shows itself when they go to rescue Waddles - the baby pterodactyls decide Dipper's their new pet and getting the funny hiccups from him is a priority, especially since he smells of the forest.

Bill ends up sending all the pterodactyls to sleep and just taking back his Pinetree and the pig, Stan scolds him for not doing that in the first place as he gets off the fallen Mother, shaking the hand he'd been punching the pterodactyl with as a distraction.

Bill rolls his eyes and shows Dipper how to use his magic to heal Stan, seeing as Stan would definitely still reject Bill's magic (like last time, in the kitchen, when Bill tried helping with a cut on Stan's palm... He ended up having to wrap it up with some magic plant to heal what was definitely _more_ than a "small cut"...)

 

And then...

...Bill disappeared...


	7. Gideon Returns (F U,  O' GIDDY-ONE!)

The evening before ends in Gideon trying to break in, before Bill had disappeared; the others weren't completely worried, though Dipper was slightly concerned; Bill usually would go to the forest before doing that, but now...

  


But then, Bill returns in a flash halfway through the day, suit torn in places as anger is written on his face.

"That _little shhhhfrrrrTOAD!_ " he yells, eyes red and black in his anger, "He thinks _he_ , a _useless mortal frog-turned-human_ , can force a deal with _me_! The damned WALRUS!"

"Bill?!" Wendy asks, as the demon storms past.

"Where is Stan?!" he demands.

"What's up?" Stan asks, entering, a frown on his face.

Bill indicates the others there.

"We'll talk in the living room, Soos, Wendy, you two can head on home early; I'm closing the Shack for the day."

Wendy frowns, as Soos nods, leaving.

"Scoot!" Bill yells, glaring at her.

She glances at Stan as she does.

The pair are silent as they move through to the living room, where Dipper and Mabel have had their attention caught by the sound of Bill's yelling.

"Gideon's back, he just tried getting me to take a peak in your head for your safe's code," Bill states.

"Hah! Good thing he can't sway you, right!" Stan grins.

Bill frowns.

"However, if he summons _me_ , that means he _could_ summon something _else_."

Stan's grin drops, as Dipper's eyes widen, and Mabel frowns...

  


Gideon smirks as he waits, keeping a watch on the house.

_Bill appeared in a swirl of flames, a grinning triangle as he floats above Gideon._

_"Well, well, well! If it isn't li'l Gideon!" he smirks, "What on_ this _puny little planet could you want?"_

 _"The code to Stan's safe!" Gideon replies, "I don't care of the price I just want the papers to their property! I want_ Mabel _!_ "

_Bill almost looks surprised for a moment, before chuckling._

_"Ohh,_ ohhhh _, that's_ great _!" Bill is giving the impression of a grin, before his eye turns red, "However, Tele-Tent, unfortunately, the Pines are_ mine, _so I don't think a deal is necessary..."_

_There is a swirl of flames as the very guy Gideon had seen around the twins and the shack appeared, leaning all too close._

_"..._ Capiche _?" Bill_ _spit_ _s though pointed teeth._

 _Gideon had lost it -_ he _had summoned_ him _!_

_"You can't do this to me! I summoned you! We had a deal already from when you gave me part of your power, I did everything you wanted!" Gideon yells, grabbing Bill by the shirt._

_"I’_ _m not_ _giving you anything if you even think of hurting a single hair on_ any _of my Pine-family's heads! I am the omniscient being that can easily ruin your life in a click of my fingers and like_ hell _you have any power over me,"_ _Bill retorts, before revealing a glowing hand as he throws Gideon into the wall…_

_Gideon had read through the journal again after that, then went and did more research at the town’s small library, coming across a plan some time later…_

_ Now all he needs is Mabel’s dearest twin,  _ __then_ _ _ he’ll have even  _ __more_ _ _ power than that good-for-nothing Demon! _

_ As though hearing his thoughts, the front door of the shack opens, Dipper looking round, before walking towards the forest, raising a hand to rub his nose as his feet don’t make a sound on the soft grass. _

_ Gideon trails Dipper as he smiles, hiding his shoes in one of the bushes by the treeline, before running further into the forest. _

_ Gideon adjusts his grip on the chloroform-laced cloth he held, before  _ __leaping_ _ _ forwards… _

  


_ Mabel’s head shoots up as her Dipper-sense goes off. _

_“ Bill?!” she calls, moving through to find Bill chuckling as he’s telling Wendy something she doesn’t exactly seem to be wanting to hear, “BILL!”_

_ Bill jerks round, Wendy sighing in relief before sending Mabel a thumbs-up as she goes to use the counter as a barrier between her and the demon, Mabel striding up to Bill. _

_“ Do you know where Dipper is?”_

_ Bill hums as his cyan eye glows gold for a moment… _

_ Then he  _ __freezes_ _ _ , a snarl breaking free from between gritted teeth. _

_“ Forest, bad situation, _ __let’s go_ _ _!” he states, whirling round,  _ _ Mabel is quick to grab her bat, as Wendy’s eyes widen. _

_“ Woah, woah, woah?! What’s going on!?”_

_“ Dipper’s in trouble, grab an axe or go home, Ice-bag!” Bill states, swinging his cane with a bloodthirsty grin._

_ Wendy grins, before grabbing an axe, the trio heading for the treeline… _

  


_ Dipper comes round with a groan. _

_ The world is fuzzy, appearing as double for a moment, before righting itself… _

_ He feels sick and he tries to move to do so onto the grass below him, only to find himself unable to move. _

_ Adrenaline clears up the rest of the fog in his head, as he turns his head to see his hands bound on either side of his head, legs bound by his angles to make a star-shape, parts of the ground cleared away to form a perfect circle around him. _

_ Oh no. _

_ He starts to struggle, as he hears a book opening. _

_“ Why, if my cute li’l future-brother-in-law ain’t awake! Perfect! We can begin!”_

_ Dipper’s eyes widen as he sees Gideon, a knife in one hand and an open copy of the Journal, this time with a 2 inside, in the other. _

_“ Now, _ __this will only hurt a bit…”_ _

_ The knife lunges down to slice open a thin line in his stomach, before the blade is used to carve a rune on his stomach. _

_“ Wow! I had to change this up a bit because the author had used an animal instead of a human, but all will be good and well soon! _ __Now, Rewo pruo, Ylliwym,_ _ __Ydob_ _ __ym, EMEVIG!_ _ _ ” Gideon chants, as Dipper gasps, suddenly feeling as though something was being sucked from his body, eyes wide in pain, as the world goes dark… _

  


_ Bill growls as he starts to feel magic flowing towards a certain point,  _ _ speeding up into a run as he narrows in on Dipper’s location. _

_“ DIPPER!” he calls, eyes widening as he gets his first glimpse of the situation._

_ Dipper is unconscious, magic flowing from the cuts on his body into Gideon, who’s laughing with glee as he’s watching the flowing, gold energy turning a deep green as it enters his system. _

_ Bill lets out a feral growl, charging forward to cut off the spell, when he gets thrown back  _ _ by a blast of energy, Gideon giving a twisted smile as he looks at his hand, before another giggle breaks out, and he throws Dipper from the magic circle, standing. _

_“ I’ll get that contract and Mabel if it’s the _ __last thing I do_ _ _!” _

_ Gideon blocks the attack sent his way by Mabel with her sparkling bat,  _ _ a feral grin lighting up his features as she struggles to move. _

_“ Why, if it isn’t my lovely angel! Come to watch me as I burn everything in our way to the ground, my sweet?”_

_“ Like hell, idiot!” Mabel growls through her teeth, still trying to move, the bat being torn from her grip as Gideon cackles, blocking Wendy’s attack and whacking her into the canopy above with a flick of his fingers._

_“ Now don’t go anywhere!” he cheerily beams, teleporting away as an explosi_ _ o _ _ n reaches them from the location of the shack… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeeesus! X’D I can’t take writing the words “conscious”, “consciousness”, “conscience” and “unconscious” seriously anymore!! This BEAUTIFUL story I found on FFN (kept on using the word “conches” instead of “consciousness”, so instead of saying, in the most serious of situations, “I found her just after she’d gone unconscious” (the poor girl-pup being beaten half to dead in this woman’s arms – I would LOVE to know how the woman knew the poor lass had just gotten unconscious by that point, because that has… Disturbing mental images…) it said “I found her just after she lost conches”… Conches being a type of shell… Now, I appreciate the effort, especially if this person was using a second/third/whatever-number-along language, and that is really //really// hard, especially when typing with that on the web… But this is why I look up any words I’m not entirely sure of the meaning of, because otherwise you get these beauties…  
> …  
> (Why on earth am I logic-analysing Fanfiction, I haven’t even poked the R-rated Crack in that regard and I even ignore the fact I myself somehow miss out letters while speed-writing chapters then get too lazy to correct myself… No, I’m just logic-analysing this one because it’s a //F’ING GOOD PLOT GOING TO WASTE IN FIVE-T’-TEN MINUTES!! AND THE GRAMMAR IS NOT HELPING ANY OF ITS MOOD!!!//)   
> *bitch alarms go off*


	8. Getting Back the Shack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christ, I've actually beaten how far I usually get while writing GF fics... X'D YEY!! XD

_ Bill is found by Stan cursing every universe possible as he’s ben _ _ t _ _ over Dipper  _ _ with glowing hands _ _ , Wendy  _ _ only a meter away _ _ trying to tug Mabel down from the magic that  _ _ encased her. _

_“ Come _ __on_ _ _! Why the  _ __hell_ _ _ won’t whatever-the-heck-that-is stop?!” Bill grumbles. _

_ Stan’s eyes widen when he sees what Bill means. _

_“ WHAT?! Can you stop it?!” Stan asks._

_“ I’m _ __trying_ _ _! It’s not exactly like I can say ‘hey, Forest magic that’s been suppressed by Dipper’s for a while, can you  _ __stop_ _ _ growing on my Pinetree?’-” _

_ Both men pause, as it  _ __does._ _

_…_

_“ _Whelp,__ _ glad I found a so-” _

_ The stuff returns to writhing around and slowly up Dipper’s arm. _

_ Bill facepalms, before clicking his fingers, which releases Mabel. _

_“ We need to get the power Gideon stole back – that’s the only way we can stop _ __whatever_ _ _ this forest -stuff is until we can find a solution to  _ __remove_ _ _ it…” _

  


_ After two days, Stan nearly gives up; Gideon has Journals 2 and 3, as well as the Shack, by  _ _ which he’s building some sort of robot… _

_ It’s completed just as Mabel and Dipper are put back on the bus to go home, even though Dipper starts internally panicking once onboard due to what the Multi-Bear had said… _

_ Gideon catches up to them just before they reach the boarder, chasing them all the way to the unused bridge. _

_ It is hear that he catches Mabel Dipper about to give up…  _

_...Before charging off the cliff, jumping onto a load of tree-roots that glow a blend of gold and an earthy-brown, grabbing the Gideon-robot and dangling it in midair as Dipper tears his way in, the roots and bridge soon giving way as the pair fight… _

  


_ Bill is the first there in the aftermath, pulling away the rubble around an unconscious, but alive, Mabel,  _ _ before moving to locate Dipper… _

_ Who falls out, still fighting Gideon. _

_“_ __Ecruos stiotel otssawn ruter_ _ _ …” Bill mutters, Gideon growling as the magic he’d stolen sinks back, like a fountain, into Dipper, both boys falling over as Bill pulls Dipper away from Gideon. _

_ Gideon nearly gets away with it… _

_ Until Stan reveals the source of Gideon’s “telepathy”. _

_ Dipper relaxes in Bill’s grip as Bill quickly checks the mark, sighing in relief. _

_ It had slowed to a soft, miniscule, pulse, hardly visible to the naked human eye… _

  


_ Stan takes both journals, Bill shrugging when Dipper looks worried and confused, before distracting Dipper by leaning over to give him a long, gentle kiss, mouth moving after to suck gently at the skin of Dipper’s neck… _

_… Leaving a mark that wins several glares from everyone else, though Bill’s a bit _ __too_ _ _ happy to care as he cuddles into the warmth of his Pinetree… _

  


_ (Meanwhile, Stan  _ __plots…_ _ _ ) _


	9. Dealing with A Fordster

Feds visit after, going undercover to the point of Bill distracting them by creating the Zombie Falls Apocalypse…

Which ends with a karaoke session, courtesy of the Pines family.

Then Dipper finds a Bunker, finds a Shapeshifting monster, before screaming, which has tree-roots suddenly shooting through to pierce the Shapeshifter, killing it off with ease.

 

B ut, then came the match of Golf, after which, Dipper and Bill felt something was quite different between the girls, as Pacifica mellowed slightly, finding it easier to talk with Shooting Star.

The pair meet a bit more often after, including when Mabel tries impressing a Sock-puppeteer, only to find out he has the craziest obsession in regards to puppets; he even came close to slapping her after she tore one in half! Hadn’t Pacifica been there to grab the guy’s wrist before the hit had landed… There would have been no more puppets.

 

Then GIFfany happens, Bill nearly losi ng Dipper to the animated animatronics, Mabel nearly losing Pacifica as she’d ended up just turning the fluffy robots into scrap, as Soos finally finds himself a girlfriend; Melody.

It’s a surprise with how Bill turned out really possessive of Dipper during the fight; sticking to his side and melting any animatronics Dipper couldn’t handle with his own (now unlocked) magic.

Afterwards, Mabel corners him with Grenda, Candy and Pacifica, intent on finding out what a certain facial expression he had at points of the fight was.

“ Diiippeeer!” Mabel whines, jumping on top of him in their room, “Do you have a crush on someone?!”

Pacifica splutters as she enters the room after Candy and Grenda, “Mabel! That’s not how you ask someone something like that!”

“Pleeeaaase!” Mabel whines, hands dangerously close to Dipper’s sides.

Dipper’s eyes widen as he tries to escape, only for Grenda to seize him by the collar as Candy pulls out the rope.

“Come on, Paz ! It’s simple!” Mabel grins, as Dipper looks quite terrified, quickly holding up his hands in surrender, “See!”

Dipper meekly uses sign-language to ask something, Mabel chuckling.

“’Course, silly! Just us girls and you will know… Wait, unless it’s one of us?!”

Dipper’s eyes widen in horror as he shakes his head, signing something else.

“Hmm… Who else, then…” Mabel waggles her brows, as Dipper’s blush darkens, finally signing a name.

Mabel promptly covers her mouth.

“Shut up?! You like Bill!”

Dipper squeezes his eyes shut as he covers her mouth, pouting.

“Sorry~ But it just sounds adorable!” Mabel grins as Candy gasps.

“You’re gay?” she asks, as Grenda whoops.

“Does this mean we can have you join in on our sleepovers?!” Grenda asks, as Dipper decides Pacifica’s a good human shield.

Mabel laughs, as Pacifica smiles .

“I do know how to stop them… But you have to tell us exactly how this happened, OK~?” she smirks.

Dipper tries the puppy eyes.

They don’t work, as Grenda drags him to sit in the ring the group sat in.

Dipper makes a face, before pulling out his notepad, tapping his chin with the pen for a moment.

‘Well, Bill’s always been really nice to me, he shows me stuff in the forest and I don’t really have to use sign language or write what I want to say for him to understand me; he can just read my surface thoughts. But apart from that, he’s really clever, as well as being surprisingly kind, for a demon. Yes, he can act like a cat when you don’t give him attention, but he knows when you need attention, too,’ Dipper writes, ‘I think I started getting feelings after the party, the one you guys met eachother at for the first time, I mean,” Dipper admits.

“ Wow, you’ve got it bad ,” Grenda remarks as Dipper starts fiddling with the pen once done.

“Well, I for one think not resolving your crush is a terrible idea, besides, Bill’s already stating his claim as your boyfriend with how much he snogs you,” Pacifica frowns.

Mabel squeals.

Dipper dreads…

 

The girls arrange the date, Pacifica having the local park cleaned and prepared for two days later, when it’s raining, as Mabel provides a couple-sized umbrella.

Dipper gets dressed up by Candy and Grenda – resulting in brown shorts, a red shirt and little else – just to get that boyfriend-gives-boyfriend-their-jacket moment…

(Bill, oddly enough, seems both very embarrassed and very pleased with the entire date, including making a reservation of his own at the Diner, where they get a full-course meal and Bill even takes advantage of the date-feeds-date trick…)

Finally, whilst at the fountain, Dipper tries confessing…

Only to be stopped halfway through by Bill confessing, kissing Dipper’s nose lightly after…

Only to get pounced on as Dipper moves to kiss Bill’s lips again, accidentally knocking them both into the fountain…

(Stan put them both on a rainy-day-ban after…)

 

Three days later, they find out about the Society of the Blind Eye, breaking in to help Old Man McGucket regain his memories, as Mabel contemplates using the ray to stop her memories of Mermando and his new girlfriend, but the Society then tries to take advantage of to remove all of Dipper’s memories about the creatures in Gravity Falls – Bill “stretched” and all the things tying him up are suddenly on the floor as he allows his anger at such a sacrilege in regards to memory-stealing and nearly wiping his Pinetree’s memories show…

(The ray ha d to be used on the Society after; Bill hadn’t held back in regards to mental scarring…)

The Love God happens, Robbie and Tambry becoming an item, before there is the Northwest’s yearly party.

Mabel chose that time to confess to Pacifica, who is cheerfully surprised, until the ghost reappears.

The ghost had stopped at the sight of Dipper, almost worshipping him, before recognising what Dipper was planning and growing enraged, anger flowing to breaking point, nearly encasing the mansion in wooden statues…

…Then Bill appeared and freed everyone as Pacifica opened the gate with her “I am not my parents!” declaration, finishing the declaration by seizing Mabel by the shoulders and kissing her on the lips …

One of the more commoner-guests had managed to get a picture, which then spread like wildfire as Preston gets angry…

 

Yet, as if laughing at the Pines Twins success, Stan gets arrested and the twins are nearly carted out of town again.

“Let us out!” Mabel yells, “Where are you taking us?!”

“You will be taken to child services for assessment, as is standard protocol.”

“Really? Maybe stopping the car to assess your own sanity would be better!” Bill grins, suddenly appearing in the middle of the passenger’s seat, the Fed Officer smashing the car into a tree in surprise.

Bill, by that point, already has the twins out of the car as he grabs the guy by the lapels of his uniform, eyes turning red.

“Now, I suggest you leave , Pinetree and Shooting Star are under my protection!” he growls, terrifying the officer, before taking the twins back towards the Shack, “ Right, we have a rift to open…”

 

Dipper watches from where he stands with the others as the rift starts to open, Mabel holding tightly to her bat, just in case .

“Kids?!” Stan runs in, both children turning in surprise.

“Opening rift in 20” a mechanical voice announces, attracting everyone’s attention, as Bill summons up a forcefield, separating their own gravity from that of the room’s.

“10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2… Rift opening,” the voice announces, as the room fills with light, the force of the sudden change in gravitational force managing to pop the forcefield, as soon, a figure appears, Bill cursing softly as he quickly stops Dipper f r om getting hurt, even though something already registers as wrong when Dipper hisses, grabbing at the arm holding the mark.

“Dipper?!” Bill exclaims, worriedly.

The Rift is speeding up the process.

The other person finally gets through, as Bill charges, slamming the switch so the rift shuts with a crack .

“OK, Dipper, deep breaths, kid, try focusing on anything but your magic for a moment, OK?!” Bill is internally panicking as the guy unwraps the scarves around his head.

“Brother!” Stan grins, moving forwards.

“Great Uncle Ford!” Mabel grins, recognising the identical features to her Grunkle Stan.

“Stan?! You brought kids here?!” Ford exclaims.

“There was sort of a situation, but hey, you’re back!”

Ford loses his temper, punching Stan to the ground.

“Grunkle Stan!”

Neither old man notices them as words and blows are exchanged.

…

There is suddenly a sparkling bit of w o od between the to, making both freeze and turn to see a not-so-happy Mabel.

“Oi, you’re twins! Freaking make up!” she growls.

“S-sweetheart…” Grunkle Stan whimpers as Ford rolls off Stan, who sits up.

“I’m your Grandniece, whilst your semi-mute Grandnephew currently is trying to prevent whatever the forest did to him with an age-old demon who’s gay for said Grephew,” she continues, annoyed… “Oh, and Soos is also here.”

“Yo!” Soos greets, raising a hand.

“…What was that?” Ford asks, surprised, as Bill finally gets the growth on Dipper under control, though it’s now up to Dipper’s shoulder.

“…Our Grandniece, Mabel. She’s a bit crazy, but thank god she’s stopped with the glitter-bombs… Shermy had a kid who had those two, they’re also twins, Dipper doesn’t have a tongue,” Stan finally states, “He also picked up a demon on his first day here who’s now officially his boyfriend.”

Bill finally focuses on Ford, the pair recognising eachother all to well.

“You…” Ford growls.

“Yes, me, now are you going to help me figure out what the hell is clinging to your Grandnephew like a goddamned parasite from the Forest or will I have to burn the whole forest to the ground?!” Bill states, before Dipper silently grabs his arm, glaring at Bill, who sighs.

“ Fine , I’ll just threaten the Gnomes to get them to search the whole thing while I try and figure out where exactly its magic is centred to use that, then!” Bill harrumphs, crossing his arms in annoyance.

He cheers up when Dipper hugs him, mentally saying something.

“Parasite?” Ford asks.

Dipper holds out the arm on with the vines seem to be growing beneath his skin.

“It’s linking into the forest’s magic as an energy source, however, it’s Dipper’s magic that’s slowing the process,” Bill states.

“Really… ” Ford looks at the marks, as Dipper wrinkles, recognising the lack of belief.

At that point, Feds start sniffing around the centre of the shack…

…

“We need a plan,” Mabel states.

“Oh, that’ll be quite easy,” Bill smirks, before pointing to a certain gun…

 

Twenty minutes later, the Feds leave…

Then Ford decides to real round and start firing question after question at Bill, Stan and Dipper, Mabel watching with a raised brow as Soos is sent home…


	10. Chapter 10

Ford calms down after a week, though Bill decides to continue his search in the forest, as Ford sets about trying to figure out what the hell’s wrong with Dipper.

The only information he can seem to get involves some age-old deity/kami of the forest, created by a being known as Amenominakanushi in Japanese dialects, the spirit of the North Star, ruling over the seven stars of Ursa Major as Takamimusubi or Kamimusubi, depending on its gender.

He decides to search up more about the deity, soon turning to the creatures of the forest, starting with the Multibear.

“Ah, I see you’ve returned,” the bear says as Ford enters, the morning sun behind him.

“Do you know anything of a Forest Deity?” he asks.

“Hmm? Oh, you mean the very thing young Dipper is to become?” the bear appears to be smiling, raising a brow at Ford’s shock, “Indeed, but only the Deity knows all about itself, even the All-Seeing-One is blocked, as the power of the Sleeping God dictates.”

“Sleeping God?”

The bear hums.

 

“There is a story passed down by us bears, by the Minotaurs, and even by the Unicorns, though only us bears hold the version that doesn’t place our pride in our species within it:

“ _Back when the forest was made, it was ruled by a god, known to them as The Great One, but to the humans settling there as Amenominakanushi. The Great One was an ancient God, one who knew that soon he was to take a Great Sleep, so to the humans, to the Gnomes, and to the creatures of the Forest, he said this; “ My children will be of this forest, as their protector, their ruler, and their Kami , they will be known by my star, then when I am to dissolve, one shall grow eternal. But know this:” and it is then that he spoke his Great Prophesy…_ ”

The Multibear falls silent.

“And what was the prophesy?”

The Multi-Bear shrugs.

“Only the one fated as the Child’s Guide knows the full thing; Prophesies are tricky things, so to give you only part of one may end up in like Harry Potter .”

Ford frowns, thinking it over, before nodding.

“Thank you,” he says, leaving…

 

Then Dipper finds Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons.

Stan and Mabel turn him down, so Dipper goes to play outside, not knowing what really to do …

...Before falling into the lab where Ford was, the dice and book falling with him.

“Owwww…”

“Dipper?”

Dipper blinks, as Ford’s there to help him up, “You shouldn’t be here! It’s not safe for-… Is that a twelve-sided die?”

Dipper looks down, before smiling and nodding.

Ford grins, as he agrees to a game…

…But then there’s the whole infinity-die, Bill getting annoyed before shredding the opposing Wizard with Stan and Mabel, muttering what they needed then the other two creating it (didn't want to cause any mind-destroying realities or something, right?!)

 

Then Stanley runs for Mayor.

Bill gets angry when Gideon possesses Bud, sensing it from the get-go, before going to personally deal with the problem, as Stan goes to rescue the twins, Dipper too frazzled with panic to use his magic.

Bill and Ford are both silent after, equally accepting of eachother's choices.

"I suppose... I can wipe my eternally-long memory of our arguement..." Bill mutters finally, when Ford's on his way to the kitchen for a drink as Bill's carrying a tuckered-out Dipper to bed in one arm, Dipper curled up like a cat as he clings to Bill's top.

"...Sure, but you slip up and I'll exorcise you, permanently," Ford states, taking the hand.

Bill smirks, as Ford rolls his eyes, looking at his sleeping nephew, before frowning as he tugs Dipper's shirt slightly, allowing them both to see how the green vines below Dipper's skin are climbing his neck.

"Seriously, I'm going to kill Gideon, allowing this to speed up..." Bill curses, Ford recognising the emotion in Bill's eyes.

"You've... Fallen, for Dipper?" he asks.

Bill looks over, before snorting, moving to adjust his grip.

"After we dealt with a sentient AI, Mabel found out Dipper and I had both been crushing on eachother, mine being  realised as a thing since Dipper nearly got beaten to bits by an 8-Bit hologram, Dipper... Because I find it so easy to know what he's saying, without ever having to really try... Anyway, the date was... Good, even if it rained, Mabel pulled several of the boyfriend-tricks and Dipper was so embarrassed when he found out I'd slipped i Lunch at the diner..." Bill frowns, grip tightening slightly, "To think, the other beings of my own kind I called friends... Like they could ever compare to the shit I ruined with you, then Fiddleford, then almost, after meeting him..." Bill's voice turns sour.

Ford frowns.

"Your friends?"

"Most likely now my new number one enemies; I was going to cause an apocalypse as Weirdmaggedon, but... The others are too raw, to simplistic for this world... To think they'd want to destroy the beautiful thing that Dipper has shown me, just by giving me his love..."

Ford hums, mind turning over the new information, before his eyes widen.

"I need Mabel to gather some Unicorn hair, while I visit Fiddleford - he should know a thing I need," Ford states.

Bill's eyes widen, before he sighs.

"You know how we can stop..."

"Slow it, not stop, unfortunately..."

Bill droops like a puppy as his hope is silenced, shoved back beneath his determination.

"I will protect Dipper, no matter what happens... Even if the Forest tries claiming him," Bill states.

Ford nods.

"Then we shall remain as acquaintances, for now; if you side with whatever that thing troubling Dipper is, I won't hesitate."

Bill nods, climbing the stairs, though he knows where to step to not cause a squeak...

Though he pauses, before they're out of sight of eachother.

"...I know."


	11. Unicorns

The next day, Mabel goes off to get Unicorn hair, taking Grenda, Wendy, Candy and Pacifica with her.  
Meanwhile, Dipper and Bill help with the shack as Ford goes to visit Fiddleford…  
“Fiddleford? Are you here?” Ford asks, peering around the scrapyard.  
“Eh?… Ford?! That you?!” Fiddleford appears, Ford blinking in surprise at the sight of his old friend.  
“What…” he asks.  
“Old age is an interesting thing; I’m the Hillbilly now!” Fiddleford smiles, pulling Ford into a handshake.  
Ford, in turn, pulls Fiddleford close, in a hug.  
“I’m sorry, old friend.”  
“Yeeeeah, nah, I like my life now! I get free metal parts from the trash and I’m still able to have a bank account since I live in the hut beside this place!” Fiddleford replies.  
“Fiddleford-”  
“Come on! I can show you round!”  
Ford follows his friend, as they fall into talk of old times…  
  
“Oh no! You are not of pure heart in the slightest!?” Celestabellebethabel whinnies.  
“Seriously?!” Mabel frowns, any sense of cheer gone, “In that case, give me your hair and I’ll go!”  
“No, no! Only one of a pure heart may take a lock of my hair!”  
Mabel growls, leaning in to prepare to fight…  
“Mabel, that’ll just prove the sexually frustrated mare right. Come on, we’ll get Dipper,” Pacifica states flatly.  
“Sexually frustrated?! I am not! How dare-”  
“Well, you did say you’re the last of your kind!” Pacifica retorts.  
Celestabel-[whateverthehell] froze as her lie was pierced so easily by the Northwest…   
  
Meanwhile, Bill had noticed the vines were speeding up.  
“Dipper, can I see the mark, please?” he asks.  
“Hmm?” Dipper looks up from where he’s sweeping, Bill smiling at Dipper’s attitude, before guiding him through to the kitchen, lifting his shirt…  
…Before hissing in annoyance at the sight of green lines etched into Dipper’s waist.  
“Damnit…” he softly curses, before the door opens.  
“Dipper! We need you to help us with a-” Mabel pauses at the sight of Bill holding Dipper’s shirt up above his waist, fingers over green-marked, pale skin.  
“Biiilll…” she growls.  
“Dipper’s mark is spreading faster, we need to slow it down and remove it, fast.”  
Mabel sighs, before grabbing Dipper’s hand.  
“Come on, the Unicorn wants to meet a pure-hearted person; you’re ours.”  
“Eh?!” Dipper squeaks, as he’s dragged back to the others…  
  
Meanwhile, Ford finally gets Fiddleford telling him about what he has to do with Dipper and his mark.  
“The Forest is sentient,” Fiddleford explains, “After the stuff with the rift, I was able to, somehow, hear it… But I made myself forget, until the Society of the Blind Eye tried getting at the very kids I was trying to protect, when I wanted my memories back… But… Then I remembered everything to do with the prophesy, found out the very kids I were protecting where the Shooting Star and Forest’s Child… So, now, I’m trying to ensure I can slide things Dipper’ll need in and about the place, that there forest has placed a claim on Dipper, Ford; the more you try and fight it, the more it’ll fight back… Because each Forest Child is born of the Forest, will be reborn in the place it belongs, will need his seven guards to avoid the hunters with their Pot, Axe and Wood…” Fiddleford hesitates, looking crushed, “Stanford… Dipper is also the last… He will be more than the previous ones, he was born with Ursa Major on his forehead, instead of on a shoulder or something, then there’s Bill…”  
Stanford stiffens.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Ford… Yet, the one mated to the All-Seeing-Eye, It is he who must live eternal, else the World shalt Die…”  
 “You know the prophesy?!” Stan exclaims.  
“I said to much! The Hand can’t know yet!” Fiddleford grows distressed, as Ford tries to aid his friend…  
  
Dipper blinks in surprise at the sight of the unicorn, eyes widening as she, in turn, inspects the young human.  
“Hi…” Dipper softly greets, raising a hand.  
Celestebellabethabel trots over, sniffing him, before shaking her mane.  
“This one, indeed, is of pure heart…” she states, before tossing her mane again, “However-”  
“Celestebellabethabel?! What on earth are you doing?!”  
The appearance of two other mares soon reveals the truth of Cele-whatever’s lies, though they are quick to study Dipper, who shrinks back towards Mabel.  
“He’s the kid, right?” one hisses of the new pair.  
“Yeah, he’s got the star and everything!” the other mutters.  
“Oi! Leave my bro alone!” Mabel growls, pulling him away.  
“No! He shall remain here!” the blue unicorn whinnies, as bloodlust fills the area…  
  
Half an hour later, Pacifica’s tending to Mabel’s wounds whilst Bill’s dragged Dipper off for another snuggle session.  
“Why didn’t you disagree when they called you “impure”?” Pacifica asks  at last.  
“I beat up Dipper’s bullies; he doesn’t know it’s me, but he is annoyed by it… Then, once or twice, I have accidentally killed one.” Mabel admits, hissing when Pacifica accidentally yanks on a bandage.  
“Killed?!”  
Mabel shrugs.  
“The first one… He’d started pushing Dipper down the stairs and telling him to die… It was just a scare tactic I was using, but it was wet, as well as dark… He fell, snapped his neck…” Mabel’s lips twitch, “I thought, ‘I should feel guilty, I should feel terrible, I just murdered a guy!’… But it felt… I don’t know, this was the third time I was using a scare tactic on this guy, so… I felt happier, yet I felt disgusted at myself…” Mabel sits up, frowning, “But, what else could I do? I disguised his death as a disappearance, I avoided Dipper’s other bullies for a bit… It worked, I got away with it! I mean, Mom and Dad don’t really seem to care; they’d most likely try and take Dipper away from me! But… If I no longer had Dipper…” Mabel droops, before Pacifica sighs, allowing Mabel to snuggle into her.  
“Why were you using abstract scare tactics, anyway?”  
Mabel shrugs a shoulder.  
“They were bullies thinking it’d be fine to encourage Dipper’s anxiety and push him towards suicide; I decided to push back, to keep Dipper safe… Even if I’ll go to hell for it.”  
Pacifica frowns, slapping Mabel on the back of her head.  
“Well, listen up!” Pacifica snaps, “Acting so two-faced isn’t healthy for anyone! You just need to act like yourself! After all, how the hell can I love someone as cool and cute as you if you don’t be honest with yourself and others more often!”  
Both girls freeze.  
“Y-you l-love me?”Mabel squeaks, turning hopeful puppy-eyes on Pacifica, who blushes even more heavily, whimpering a soft “Uh-huh…” in reply.  
Mabel leaps, as Pacifica finds herself pulled into a kiss, Mabel’s arms around her as Mabel then rolls on top, withdrawing to gaze down at Pacifica, a smile of her own, this time soft with love.  
“Really?” she beams, before punctuating her next words with pecks and kisses, “Because, I, love, you, so, much!”   
Pacifica laughs at Mabel’s puppy-like nature, wrapping her arms around Mabel’s neck for one, long, gentle kiss.  
“Yes,” she smiles, when Mabel pulls away, “Because I fell for your strength, your optimism, and your will to stand up for what’s right… Even if I can’t really do that…”  
Mabel whimpers as the last sentence.  
“I can deal with that, I promise…” Mabel gently rubs her fingertips around the skin of Pacifica’s waist, remaining gentle as Pacifica leans, smiling, into Mabel’s touch…  
Only for there to be a gasp, along with a loud “FINALLY!”  
“BILL!” Mabel yells, turning to see Bill standing at the top of the stairs with a crazed grin.  
“Get out!” Pacifica yells, turning equally as red as Mabel throws one of her creations, successfully knocking Bill back down the stairs.  
“Mabel!”  
“He’s a demon! He loves pain!”  
Maniacal laughter filters up from below, proving Mabel’s point…  
  
Meanwhile, a small figure stands at a nearby edge of Gravity Falls, where the trees fall away into a field.  
A hand stretches out softly, slightly shaky with nerves, before it lands on something, which ripples softly around their hand, glowing a soft silvery-white as it reveals an unending dome around the town for a moment, the figure pausing in surprise, then frowning in acceptance, before they nod to themself.  
…  
“…I’m sorry, Mabel, Ford… Everyone…”


	12. Roadtrip

Three days later, a week before the end of the Summer holidays, Stan arranges a trip for investigating the competition.

But they’re outside of the Falls.

Mabel and the others are already on the bus, though Dipper is hesitant.

“You OK, bro?” Mabel asks, as Dipper nods, before shakily replying with his hands .

‘H-how about I sit this one out?’ he smiles worriedly.

“ Why? Don’t you want to have some fun?” Candy asks, surprised.

“I-I…” Dipper takes a step away from the bus, as Stan looks over, Mabel moving to pull him onto the caravan.

Dipper hisses, trying to escape.

“Why?!” Mabel asks in reply, pausing.

Dipper pulls himself away quickly, whimpering.

‘Because I can’t!’ he signs, scared and annoyed.

“Can’t what?! ”

Dipper squeezes his eyes shut.

‘I can’t leave the Falls!” he signs finally.

“Wait, what?! You can’t leave Gravity Falls?!” Mabel exclaims.

Dipper visibly droops, Stan turning off the caravan’s engine/

“Have you told Ford?” Stan asks.

Dipper shakes his head, rubbing to his mark, the unicorn hair dipped in pixie dust and herbal stuff wrapped around it.

“Bill!” Mabel calls.

The demon appears.

“Dipper can’t leave the town, we need you to take him to Ford and… Look after him, OK?”

Bill pauses, Dipper sending him an image, before Bill nods.

“Ford should have a solution, you guys enjoy your trip.”

Bill wraps his arms possessively around Dipper as Mabel nods, Stan restarting the engine, before the group drives away, leaving Dipper and Bill behind…

 

Ford is surprised as he takes Stan and [what he believes as] the kids’ absence as an opportunity to visit Fiddleford…

…Only to find Fiddleford taking one of the more hidden roots in a certain direction, following something as he appears to pause and listen, then look round and continue on every so often.

He’s holding something, but Ford can’t tell what it is.

Then he sees what he’s heading for.

Or more, who .

Dipper’s sitting with Bill, the pair talking as Bill’s showing him a few tricks with his magic, Dipper taking notes that Bill would every now and then correct.

“STOP!” Ford yells, darting forwards, as McGucket fires .

Bill gets between Dipper and whatever it is, before being knocked back as Ford tries getting the gun away, only to be thrown away with a surprising burst of strength from Fiddleford, who fires off again, this time hitting Dipper, who cries out.

“What are you doing?!” Ford yells.

“They need to remember, all of you need to remember!”

Fiddleford’s eyes are glazed with a crazed sense of mania and have a slight ring of green around their edge.

Ford freezes, as Fiddleford hesitates, before lowering the gun-like thing.

“It’s the opposite of the Memory-Removal gun; instead it brings forth already-their memories to the forefront, so I programmed in “Gravity Falls’ Forest”… Mason will have had flashes, back when his magic awakened, linking in to the forest, even if he was many miles away…” Fiddleford explains, “He must remember to find his path, so nothing gets destroyed.”

“Apart from his childhood,” Ford growls resentfully.

“Apart from his childhood,” Fiddleford agrees, sorrowfully, before he looks up, hopeful, “But he has you, as well as his other Guardians! You can take him on as your apprentice, and Mabel as Stan’s!”

“Lee’s an ex-crook!”

“Mabel’s a Murderess! One death or disappearance a year!”

Ford freezes.

“The forest knows this stuff! It’s already weaving its way into Bill, in preparation for keeping him here and providing him a physical form! At the moment he has to focus to play about as a human, but the forest can ensure he remains in Gravity Falls and not a threat!” Fiddleford beams.

It is both very tempting in regards to Bill and really disturbing in regards to both not knowing and Fiddleford’s reactions.

Grunting, Ford turns to see Bill and Dipper are very much unconscious.

“You’re helping me get them back to the shack,” Ford finally states.

“…Sure,” Fiddleford shrugs, muttering something that makes Bill glow slightly so Fiddleford can keep a tight enough grip on him, stumbling so Bill’s now half-carried, half-dragged as Ford can easily just carry Dipper…

Speaking of.

“I think I’m going to have Dipper eat more once we’re back; he’s too light,” Ford states.

“I dunno, seems fine to me!” Fiddleford shrugs.

Ford snorts.

“Now, you’re telling me how you figured out that design, because I’m curious and want to create a solution; just in case.”

“Of course!” Fiddleford launches into a long explanation…

 

Meanwhile, Mabel somehow had managed to hide her sparkly bat in the caravan, and was now beating the heck out of the arachnid that had tried eating Stan.

Meanwhile, Pacifica was just stopping the others from stopping Mabel.

“Mabel’s slightly frustrated; just let her at it and she’ll cool off in a bit,” Pacifica explains.

“More than a bit…” Wendy mutters, as there’s another yell of “DIE! DIE! DIE!” echoing around the cave after one particularly snarky remark implying something about “any and all of your siblings”…

 

Bill and Dipper wake up to Mabel changing out of oddly-red clothing.

“Who’d you kill this time?” Bill groans, sitting up with a headache.

“Oversized Spider, she tried eating Stan and taunting me about those I hold dear, so I got some target-practise.”

Bill mutters something as he checks Dipper over, as Dipper’s rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Images flicker across Dipper's thoughts, both in the surface an deeper, just as Bill had found his of the forest.

Sighing, Bill gently kisses Dipper's hair.

"I'll follow and protect you..." Bill mutters softly, purring lightly when Dipper snuggles into his side.

Oddly enough, Pinetree was the only one who could touch him without much thought, as Dipper then gets him to follow him to the kitchen, where Ford and Stan are talking, McGucket sitting between them with a cup of tea in his hands.

"...What the hell's going on?!" Bill growls, recognising the person who'd shot at them.

Attention shifts to the pair.

"Bill, we need some help," Ford states.

Bill nearly feels shocked.

 _Nearly_ being the key word.

"Whelp, tell me what's up, then!" he grins, taking a seat...


	13. Gone to Fate

Dipper wakes to black.

But his eyes are open, Stan calling it was time for them to get up.

“… Mabew ?” he asks, moving to check his eyes, finding nothing there.

Panic starts to sink into him.

“Mabew? Biww?!” he half-pleads, using his hands to feel his way about.

“Dip- Oh my god!” Mabel’s voice is suddenly loud as she exclaims in shock, Dipper looking towards the sound of her voice, “Dipper, what’s wrong?!”

“See…” he whimpers, shaking his head.

Mabel blinks.

“Are you sure, how many-”

Dipper whimpers, trying to reach out, to find her.

“GRUNKLE STAN?!” Mabel yells, half-screaming, “ GRUNKLE STAN?! ”

There are feet on the stairs as there are arms settling around Dipper.

“Dipper?!” Bill asks, as Dipper digs his fingers into Bill, blinking.

‘Why can’t I see?! Why can I only see Bill?! What’s wrong with me!’ Dipper thinks, as hands go to gently stroke his hair, rocking him gently to-and-fro.

“I’m getting Ford.”

Bill makes a noise of agreement.

Dipper whimpers, as Bill tries to think.

“The stuff spread… Sh-oot! Why didn’t I notice?! Why isn’t my Eye working?!” Bill half-growls.

Dipper tries feeling for the difference.

Bill gently strokes around the right-half of Dipper’s neck, before up the side of his face, to his eyes.

Dipper wants to cry.

“Dipper, I need you to try something.”

Dipper nods, sucking on his bottom lip to try and control himself.

“Which hand can you see?”

Dipper rubs at his face, before looking at Bill’s hands.

Or more, hand.

He grabs the left one, searching with his other hand to find Bill’s right was just beside it.

“ Biww?”

“You’re currently able to see the Forest’s magic… But only that; I’m a demon, but my reserves aren’t entirely infinite, I borrow some from here and there…”

“But isn’t that bad for you?!” Mabel asks.

“Not if it helps me see exactly what’s going on with my Pine-tree,” Bill retorts, pouting.

They hear footsteps, this time, calm.

“Dipper?” Ford asks.

Dipper is thinking over the new information, brow furrowed as he processes it.

“His sight’s been limited to just the Forest’s magic, it got his eyes,” Bill half-growls, hugging Dipper tighter.

“We need to solve this,” Ford sighs, agreeing, “Maybe if Dipper left-”

“U-uh!” Dipper retorts quickly, shaking his head quickly, raising his hands, ‘I can’t!’

“There’s a barrier around the Forest, I found out while searching for answers… It’s like a big sphere of a magic not entirely unlike the forest’s, anything linked into the forest’s magic can’t leave, though they can enter,” Bill agrees, “Dipper showed me after the Bus incident…”

Ford nods, frowning.

“…Dipper will have to stay in bed for a while, then, while Bill and I work on a solution; Mabel, we’re also going to need more unicorn hair, though now we’re also going to need Gnome vomit and Pixie Dust.”

“On it,” Mabel nods, standing…

 

Dipper’s asleep again, as he’s watching a series of similar events.

__Wendy cutting herself while chopping wood, the blood dripping onto the grass._ _

__Robbie wiping the blood from a bloody nose onto the grass during a fight, about a year ago._ _

__Gideon accidentally cutting his hand open as he shatters a vial with his fist, the bits of bloodied glass hitting the earth in his pain-hazed shock._ _

__Soos_ _ __with one of his tools_ _ __, Stan_ _ __with his faked accident_ _ __, Ford_ _ __while working_ _ __, Mabel_ _ __while fighting the Unicorns_ _ __, Pacifica_ _ __while inspecting the roses in her garden_ _ __and_ _ __Fiddleford cutting himself on a piece of metal._ _

__The zodiac Bill holds appears, before-_ _

Dipper wakes up, panting.

Blinking, he realises everything’s in sepia, like 19  th  century photographs, as something is tugging at him from the stairs, a small strand of green weaving away from Dipper, before dancing back as if saying “Come on! Come on! We’ve got somewhere to go!”

Throwing the covers back, Dipper doesn’t even think to get dressed or put on his shoes as it leads out the quieter, more secretive way from the Shack, through the ceiling to the roof, down the side then to the top of Soos’ van, before down the back of it and into the forest.

“It’s time, right?” Dipper asks softly, reaching out to touch the dancing green light.

It leans into his touch for a second, before whizzing round him and back on their route, Dipper laughing softly, as earth and leaves move to hide his tracks…

 

Mabel’s gut screams in warning.

“Dipper?!” she squeaks, looking up, before following her gut to the window.

…

“SHIT!” she roars, running.

Bill is there , glancing first at her, before at the disappearing head of brown dressed in only pyjamas.

“Crud,” Bill hisses, before running forward after Mabel, swiftly overtaking her as the pair dart after Dipper, who isn’t even wearing shoes !

He stumbles, as Vines and bits of ivy shoot out, catching him, as Dipper visibly relaxes, allowing the forest to lead him.

No no no no no no nonononononononononononono!

“DIPPER! ” Bill roars.

Dipper glances back to reveal glowing, amber-brown eyes.

Bill almost falls off the branch he was using to swing over a small ditch, as he registers calm acceptance in amongst the slight tinge of fear and bottomless peace that makes Dipper appear older than he actually is.

Dipper almost stops, before Bill growls, as determination sweeps through him, quickly switching to phasing-through branches to fly after Dipper, shedding the human guise but for his form, trying to reach Dipper…

His fingertips snatch air, as Dipper’s suddenly being yanked away, faster than sound.

“ NO! ” Bill roars, moving forward faster , about to telepo-

Something smashes through his chest, before he’s yanked to the ground.

“ BILL! ” Mabel’s scream is faint.

Bill looks to see vines weaving around him, shoving into him, injecting something that fills his body with actual pain.

Growling, eyes turning red, Bill tries tearing free, fighting to keep the stuff away from his face, from his centre…

 

Mabel arrives just in time to see a large hand being dragged beneath vines.

“Damn it!” she hisses, pulling the axe she’d grabbed on her way out from the loop on her hip – made for the bat, but it works just as well for the axe.

She strikes down, wrinkling her nose as she gets sprayed with something , annoyance tearing through her.

She glances in the direction Dipper had disappeared.

“DAMN IT!” she screams, anger and fear and loss rippling through her, trying to get to the only person able to locate Dipper with her Dipper-sense just sliced through with how annoyingly calm he was.

She stumbles as the axe shatters, the head flying over her shoulder as she hears yelling in the distance.

She only then registered how hard she’d been chopping, as she drops the shattered handle…

A sob breaks loose, as she curses even more, dissolving in tears.

“GIVE HIM BACK! GIVE ME BACK DIPPER!” she roars, panting.

The air turns softer.

‘ He will return, when it is time; they both shall return .”

The odd voice sounds like the forest, but also – mockingly – like Dipper’s soft whispers from when he sleeps.

Mabel allows herself a growl.

“When?!” she hisses, looking round.

“His Guardians must be ready, for else he, no, the World, shall fall.”

“Fall ?!” she blinks, looking up.

…

Only the Wind replies, soundless, as she’s finally found by Wendy, shaking and angry…

 

 **TO BE CONTINUED IN** **CHILD OF THE FOREST: SOUL HOPE (Rating increased to** **E for Violence, Explicit language and Sexy time, because this author has 0% restraint ;D** **)** **.**

**Teaser:**

 

It had been years, too long even for how short that time had compared to his life.

But finally, finally , he had him in his arms again, be so tired and covered in dirt and mud…

 

“Dipper?” Mabel knocks gently at the door, “You there?”

There’s a soft whimper, before the door is opened enough for a pale hand to dart out, yanking Mabel in…

…

"Whelp, Mum and Dad are going to be pissed ."


End file.
